Many years ago, there lived a very rich man who wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted to _______ whether they were good enough to get his help. So he placed a very large stone in the center of the main _______ into town. Then he hid behind a tree and waited.

Soon an old man came along _______ his cow. “Who put this stone in the center of the road?” said the old man, _______ he did not try to move the stone away. Instead, he passed around the stone and continued on his way. Another man came along and did the same _______; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone in the center of the road, but _______ of them tried to move it away.

Late in the afternoon, a young man came along. He _______ the stone and said, “It will be very dark at night. Some people will come along _______ in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

The young man then began to _______ the stone. He pulled with all his strength to move it to one side. But imagine his surprise when he found a bag full of ________ and this message under the stone: “This money is for the thoughtful person who takes this stone away from the road. Thank you.”

1.A.work out B.find out C.look out D.hang out

2.A.road B.tree C.city D.theater

3.A.for B.of C.about D.with

4.A.and B.so C.but D.or

5.A.thing B.way C.seat D.service

6.A.some B.none C.all D.everybody

7.A.knew B.choose C.saw D.gave

8.A.last B.lately C.later D.lastly

9.A.move B.act C.throw D.play

10.A.stones B.menus C.prizes D.money

Imagine you are thinking about entering a senior high school, but have questions. So you go to the school's website to find answers. A message appears on your computer and says, "How can I help?" You are not communicating with a human being, but a chatbot. It is using artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with you. This might sound strange, but in recent years, chatbots have become an usual tool for banks and large companies around the world.

Having workers answer people's questions and complaints can be expensive. And workers canonly work several hours a day, making customers wait longer for a response (答复). So not only companies, but more schools have also begun using chatbot technology, says Keith Rajecki. He is with Oracle Higher Education, a computer software company that serves these institutions.

Rajecki notes that reducing costs and response time is one of the main reasons why schools and companies are turning to this technology. However, the purpose of many schools is to find ways to better serve students, since students are used to communicating online through Facebook or WeChat, says Rajecki.

Now Oracle is offering many schools a chatbot which can do everything from helping students register (注册) for classes to helping them ask for a few days off. Oracle is not the only company working on chatbot technology. Businesses like AdmitHub and Ivy.ai are involved in similar efforts.

Western Governors University, or WGU, also received a $750,000 award to experiment with a new kind of chatbot. "We're not trying to create a bot that answers simple questions," said Jason Leven, the director of WGU Labs. "We're trying to create a chatbot that can help decision making for students."

Ian Jacobs is with the market research company Forrester. He suggests that technology like chatbots can work well if it is able to do what users ask of it. Jacobs says the problem will appear when cost cutting becomes an important reason for using the technology. This means schools and companies are more likely to try using chatbots for things they are not yet able to do, such as communicating in the way humans do. For one thing, there are hundreds of ways to word even simple requests. For another, chatbots aren't able to deal with emotions (感情). They can't understand how humans feel, not to speak of comforting (安慰) them.

1.Which of the following is not the reason why more schools are turning to chatbot technology?

A.Schools want to serve the students better.

B.Chatbot technology can help schools save money.

C.Students are used to communicating with chatbots.

D.Chatbot technology makes students wait shorter for a response.

2.Chatbots may work well in the following situations except ________.

A.when students want to know more about a school

B.when students are wondering how to register for classes

C.when students want to have two days off because of illness

D.when students are in need of some help because a parent dies

3.The following sentence would best be placed at the end of ________. However, not everyone is ready to consider the possibilities this kind of technology presents.

A.Paragraph 5 B.Paragraph 4 C.Paragraph 3 D.Paragraph 2

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A.A chatbot is able to do whatever users ask of it.

B.A chatbot is a kind of completely new technology using AI.

C.A new chatbot may appear to help students to make decisions.

D.Chatbot technology has been used in both schools and companies.

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